How We Make Memories: Crash Course Psychology #13

Summary

The script explores the intricacies of human memory through the lens of Clive Wearing, a man with extreme amnesia, and delves into the psychological and biological aspects of memory formation and storage. It explains the Atkinson-Shiffrin model, the transition from sensory to short-term and then to long-term memory, and the distinction between explicit and implicit memory processes. The video also discusses various types of long-term memory, mnemonic techniques, and the profound impact of memory on identity.

Takeaways

• 🎵 Clive Wearing, a London musician, suffered from a rare Herpes encephalitis virus in 1985 that severely impacted his memory, making him unable to remember his past or form new memories, except recognizing his wife.
• 🧠 Memory is crucial in defining who we are, connecting our past to our present, and enabling us to anticipate the future.
• 🤔 Memory can be categorized into different types, such as procedural memory (skills like riding a bike), episodic memory (personal experiences), and others, which are stored and processed differently in the brain.
• 📚 The process of memory formation was outlined by Atkinson and Shiffrin in the late 1960s, involving encoding, storage, and retrieval stages.
• 👀 Short-term memory, or working memory, is where information is initially held before being transferred to long-term memory, with a capacity of about four to seven distinct bits of information.
• 🔄 Working memory involves both explicit and implicit processes, where explicit processes involve conscious and active storage of information, and implicit processes handle automatic associations.
• 🔍 Long-term memory is vast and enduring, storing all our knowledge, skills, and experiences, and is distinct from short-term memory in both capacity and duration.
• 📈 Mnemonics and chunking are effective memory strategies that help organize information into manageable units, facilitating better recall and retention.
• 🔎 Deep processing, which involves encoding information based on its meaning, is more effective for long-term retention than shallow processing, which focuses on superficial auditory or visual cues.
• 🤓 The ability to remember and the capacity for memory are deeply intertwined with our identity, as seen in the profound case of Clive Wearing, whose memory loss has significantly altered his sense of self.
• 🌐 Memory is a complex phenomenon that continues to be explored in terms of its biological and psychological aspects, with ongoing research revealing more about how it shapes our lives and identities.

Q & A

What was Clive Wearing's profession before he contracted Herpes encephalitis virus?

Clive Wearing was an accomplished London musician before he contracted the Herpes encephalitis virus in 1985.

What is the impact of the Herpes encephalitis virus on Clive Wearing's memory?

The Herpes encephalitis virus ravaged Clive Wearing's central nervous system, leaving him unable to remember almost any of his past or make new memories.

Who is the only person Clive Wearing recognizes, and why is this significant?

Clive Wearing's wife is the only person he recognizes. This is significant because it indicates that his memory loss is selective, affecting his episodic memories while sparing his recognition of familiar individuals.

How does the script describe the role of memory in our lives?

The script describes memory as the chain that connects our past to our present, enabling us to recognize loved ones, recall past joys, and remember how to perform various tasks. Without memory, we would be untethered and unable to embrace the future.

What are the three ways in which our memories are typically accessed?

Our memories are typically accessed through recall, recognition, and relearning. Recall involves reaching back in the mind to bring up information, recognition is identifying old information when presented with it, and relearning is refreshing or reinforcing old information.

What is the Atkinson-Shiffrin model of memory, and how does it break down the process of memory formation?

The Atkinson-Shiffrin model of memory breaks down the process of memory formation into three stages: encoding information into the brain, storing it for future use, and eventually retrieving it.

What is the difference between short-term memory and working memory as described in the script?

Short-term memory is a classical definition that refers to the brief storage of information. Working memory, on the other hand, is a more comprehensive concept that involves taking short-term information and transferring it into long-term memory stores, including both explicit and implicit processes.

What are the two types of processes involved in working memory, and how do they differ?

The two types of processes involved in working memory are explicit and implicit processes. Explicit processes involve conscious and active storage of information, such as when studying. Implicit processes, on the other hand, involve automatic storage of information without conscious effort, such as classically conditioned associations.

What is the role of procedural memory in long-term memory, and how does it differ from episodic memory?

Procedural memory refers to how we remember to do things, like riding a bike or reading. It is effortful to learn at first but eventually becomes automatic. Episodic memory, on the other hand, is tied to specific episodes of life and involves recalling personal experiences or events.

What are some strategies mentioned in the script to help with memory retention?

The script mentions mnemonics and chunking as strategies to help with memory retention. Mnemonics involve organizing items into familiar units, while chunking involves breaking down information into manageable parts to aid in memorization.

How does the script differentiate between shallow and deep processing in the context of memory?

Shallow processing involves encoding information on basic auditory or visual levels, such as the appearance of a word. Deep processing, on the other hand, involves encoding information based on its semantic meaning and associating it with personal or emotional experiences to enhance retention.

Outlines

00:00

🎼 The Tragic Tale of Clive Wearing's Amnesia

This paragraph introduces Clive Wearing, a once accomplished London musician whose life was dramatically altered by a rare Herpes encephalitis virus in 1985. The virus left him with extreme amnesia, unable to form new memories or recall his past, with the exception of recognizing his wife. The narrative explores the profound impact of memory on identity, highlighting how memory serves as a bridge between our past and present. Despite his condition, Wearing retains certain skills like speaking and playing the piano, illustrating the complexity of memory and its various types, including procedural and implicit memories. The paragraph also introduces the concept of memory in a broader sense, setting the stage for a deeper dive into how memory functions.

05:01

📚 Understanding Memory: Encoding, Storage, and Retrieval

This paragraph delves into the scientific understanding of memory, explaining it as learning that persists over time. It outlines the three primary ways memories are accessed: recall, recognition, and relearning, each associated with different types of tests in an educational context. The paragraph then introduces the Atkinson-Shiffrin model of memory formation, which involves encoding, storage, and retrieval stages. It explains the concept of sensory memory and its transition to short-term memory through rehearsal, highlighting the limitations of short-term memory's capacity and duration. The discussion then moves to long-term memory, described as a vast storage unit for knowledge, skills, and experiences. The paragraph concludes by touching upon the evolution of the concept of short-term memory into the more encompassing idea of working memory, which includes both explicit and implicit processes.

Keywords

💡Amnesia

Amnesia refers to a loss of memory that can be severe enough to impact a person's ability to recall personal information, past experiences, and even basic functions. In the video, Clive Wearing's profound case of amnesia is highlighted, illustrating the devastating impact of memory loss on identity and daily life. His condition is used to underscore the importance of memory in shaping who we are.

💡Herpes encephalitis

Herpes encephalitis is a rare viral infection that affects the brain and can lead to severe neurological complications, including memory loss. The video mentions that Clive Wearing contracted this virus in 1985, which resulted in his extreme amnesia. This keyword is crucial for understanding the medical context of Wearing's condition.

💡Memory

Memory is the cognitive process of encoding, storing, and retrieving information. The video script emphasizes the multifaceted nature of memory, discussing its role in recognizing loved ones, recalling past events, and even performing routine tasks. Memory is portrayed as the 'chain that connects our past to our present,' highlighting its fundamental role in human identity and experience.

💡Encoding

Encoding in the context of memory refers to the initial process of converting information into a form that can be stored in the brain. The video explains that information is first encoded into the brain before it is stored and later retrieved. An example from the script is the process of remembering the name of the Spartan friend, Leonidas, through repetition.

💡Short-term memory

Short-term memory, as discussed in the video, is a temporary storage system for information that can last from a few seconds to about a minute without rehearsal. The script uses the example of remembering a phone number or a name briefly to illustrate this concept. It is a critical component in the process of transferring information to long-term memory.

💡Long-term memory

Long-term memory is the brain's durable storage system that holds knowledge, skills, and experiences over extended periods. The video contrasts short-term memory with long-term memory, emphasizing the latter's capacity to store vast amounts of information. Clive Wearing's case is used to highlight the difference between episodic and procedural memories within long-term memory.

💡Working memory

Working memory is an updated concept that includes the processes involved in transferring information from short-term to long-term memory. The video script explains that working memory involves both explicit and implicit processes, and it is essential for understanding how we manipulate and store information actively and passively.

💡Procedural memory

Procedural memory is a type of long-term memory that deals with the learning and execution of skills and tasks. The video uses the example of riding a bike or reading to illustrate procedural memory, which is effortful to learn initially but can be performed automatically with practice. Clive Wearing's retention of his ability to play the piano exemplifies the resilience of procedural memory despite his amnesia.

💡Episodic memory

Episodic memory refers to the recollection of specific events or episodes in one's life. The video script contrasts episodic memory with procedural memory, noting that Clive Wearing's episodic memories are deeply affected by his condition. This type of memory is crucial for personal identity and the narrative of one's life experiences.

💡Mnemonics

Mnemonics are memory aids or techniques that help in organizing and remembering information more efficiently. The video script mentions acronyms like ROY G. BIV for the colors of the rainbow as examples of mnemonics. They work by chunking information into familiar units, making it easier to encode and recall.

💡Chunking

Chunking is a process in which information is broken down into smaller, more manageable units to facilitate better memory encoding and recall. The video script uses the example of remembering a phone number in chunks to illustrate this concept. It is a strategy that enhances the effectiveness of mnemonics and contributes to better memory retention.

💡Deep processing

Deep processing is a level of memory encoding that involves understanding and relating the meaning of information to existing knowledge. The video contrasts deep processing with shallow processing, emphasizing that deep processing leads to better retention by connecting new information to personal experiences and meanings, as illustrated by the example of remembering the story of Leonidas.

Highlights

Clive Wearing, a London musician, contracted a rare Herpes encephalitis virus in 1985 that caused severe amnesia.

Wearing is unable to remember his past or form new memories, but he can still recognize his wife.

Memory is essential for recognizing loved ones, recalling past events, and remembering skills.

Memory connects our past to our present, and its loss can leave us untethered.

Wearing retains some automatic memories, such as speaking English, dressing, and playing the piano.

Memory can be accessed through recall, recognition, and relearning.

Recall involves reaching back into the mind to bring up information, as in fill-in-the-blank tests.

Recognition is like a multiple-choice test, requiring identification of old information.

Relearning is about refreshing or reinforcing old information, making it easier to recall.

Memory formation is a process involving encoding, storage, and retrieval.

Sensory memory is immediate but fleeting, and must be transferred to short-term memory for retention.

Short-term memory can hold about four to seven bits of information and is crucial for brief retention.

Long-term memory is a durable storage unit for knowledge, skills, and experiences.

Working memory involves the transfer of short-term information to long-term storage.

Explicit processes involve conscious and active storage of information, while implicit processes are automatic.

Procedural memory refers to how we remember to do things, like riding a bike.

Episodic memory is tied to specific episodes of life, such as memorable events.

Mnemonics and chunking are strategies that help with memorization and explicit processing.

Deep processing involves encoding information based on its meaning, which aids in retention.

Memory is powerful and constantly shapes our brain, life, and identity.

Transcripts

Clive Wearing was playing the piano alone in his room.

When his wife came into the room, he immediately leapt up and embraced her with joyful enthusiasm.

A minute later, she slipped out to grab a glass of water, and when she returned, he

gave her that same bright greeting, as if she’d been gone for days.

And then he did again.

And again.

Clive was an accomplished London musician, until, in 1985 at the age 47, he contracted

a rare Herpes encephalitis virus that ravaged his central nervous system.

Since then he’s been unable to remember almost any of his past, or to make any new

memories.

His wife is the only person he recognizes, but he can never recall the last time he saw

her.

This may be the most profound case of extreme and chronic amnesia ever recorded.

Our memory helps make us who we are.

Whether recognizing loved ones, recalling past joys, or just remembering how to, like,

walk and talk and fry an egg, memory is the chain that connects our past to our present.

If it breaks, we’re left untethered, incapable of leaving the present moment, and unable

to embrace the future.

But memory isn’t an all or nothing thing, of course.

Wearing can’t remember any details about his personal past, but he still remembers

how to speak English, get dressed, and play the piano.

Some memories you process automatically, and they are stored differently than your more

personal or factual memories, like, your first kiss, or how to recite pi to twelve places,

or who won the Peloponnesian War.

Speaking of ancient Greeks -- and to help demonstrate what I’m talking about -- I

want you to have a look at our Spartan friend here, and remember his name.

‘Cause we’re gonna test your memory in just minute.

[INTRO]

Technically, memory is learning that has persisted over time -- information that has been stored

and, in many cases, can be recalled.

Except of course during the exam!

Our memories are typically accessed in three different ways — through recall, recognition,

and relearning.

And if you think about all the different kinds of tests you’ve taken in school, they’re

all actually designed to size up how you access stored information in these ways.

Like, recall is how you reach back in your mind and bring up information, just as you

do in fill-in-the-blank tests.

So if i say, BLANK is the capital of Greece, your brain would hopefully recall the answer

as Athens.

Recognition, meanwhile, is more like a multiple-choice test -- you only need identify old information

when presented with it.

As in: which of the following was NOT an ancient city in Greece: Athens, Marathon, Pompeii,

or Sparta.

And relearning is sort of like refreshing or reinforcing old information.

So when you study for a final exam, you relearn things you half-forgot more easily than you

did when you were first learning them, like, say, a basic timeline of the Greek empire.

But how?

How does all of that data that we’re exposed to, all the time, every day, become memory?

Well, in the late 1960s, American psychologists Richard Atkinson and Richard Shiffrin figured

out enough about the process of memory-formation to break it down into three stages:

First, it’s first encoded into brain, then stored for future use, and then eventually

retrieved.

Sounds simple, but by now you’ve figured out that, just because you take a lot of stuff

about your mind for granted, that doesn’t mean it isn’t complicated.

By Atkinson and Shiffrin’s model, we first record things we want to remember as an immediate,

but fleeting, sensory memory.

Think back to the image I showed you a minute ago.

Do you remember his name?

If you do it’s because you successfully managed to shuffle it into your short-term

memory, where you probably encoded it through rehearsal.

This is how you briefly remember something like a password or phone number-- hey Tommy,

what’s Jenny’s number?

Okay.

867-5309...867-5309… 8-6-7-5-3… see you’re getting it in your head there.

Or in this case, I told you to remember that guy’s name, so maybe you were thinking “Leonidas”

repeatedly over and over, even if you didn’t think you were doing it.

But this information really only stays in your short-term memory for under thirty seconds

without a lot of rehearsal.

So if you weren’t repeating “Leonidas,” you’d probably have

forgotten it already.

Because your mind, amazing as it is, can really only hold between four to seven distinct bits

of information at a time--at which point, the memory either decays, or gets transferred

into long-term memory.

Long-term memory is like your brain’s durable and ridiculously spacious storage unit, holding

all your knowledge, skills, and experiences.

Now, since the days of Atkinson and Shiffrin, psychologists have recognized that the classical

definition of short-term memory didn’t really capture all of the processes involved in the

transfer of information to your long-term memory.

I mean, it’s more than just being able to remember some Greek guy’s name.

So later generations of psychologists revisited the whole idea of short-term memory and updated

it to the more comprehensive concept of working memory.

Working memory involves all the ways that we take short-term information and stash it

in our long-term stores.

And increasingly, we think of it as involving both explicit and implicit processes.

When we store information consciously and actively, that’s an explicit process.

We make the most of this aspect of working memory when we study, for instance, so that

we can know that Athens is the capital of Greece, and that Pompeii was a Roman town,

and not a Greek one.

This is how we capture facts and knowledge that we think we’re going to need -- like

I told you specifically to remember Leonidas’ name, you concentrated on that detail and

filed it away, if briefly.

But of course we’re not conscious of Every.

Tiny.

Thing that we take in.

Yet, our working memory often transfers stuff we’re not aware of to long-term storage.

We call that an implicit process, the kind you don’t have to actively concentrate on.

A good example might be classically conditioned associations, like, if you get all sweaty

and nervous at the dentist because you had a root canal last year.

You don’t need to pull up that file on the last time you got your face drilled to think

oh hey, oral surgery!

Not my favorite!

Instead, implicit processes cover all that stuff automatically.

This kind of automatic processing is hard to shut off-- unless you’ve got something

unusual going on in your brain, you may not have much choice but to learn this way, like

how you learned how to not put your hand into a fire.

That learning would have happened pretty much automatically as soon as you first yanked

your hand away from an open flame.

Whether things are lodged in there explicitly or implicitly, or both, there are also different

kinds of long-term memory.

For instance, procedural memory refers to how we remember to do things -- like riding

a bike or reading - it’s effortful to learn at first, but eventually you can do it without

thinking about it.

Long-term memory can also be episodic, tied to specific episodes of your life -- like

“remember that time that Bernice fell out of her chair in chemistry lab and started

laughing uncontrollably?”

Man, good times.

There are other types of long-term memory, too, and we’re continually learning more

about the biology and psychology of the whole complex phenomenon.

For instance, while Clive Wearing’s episodic memories (among others) seem to be deeply

affected, his procedural memories for things seems to be in one piece.

This has to do with neuroanatomy that we don’t have time to explore here, and that we don’t

yet fully understand -- Wearing and others have a lot to teach us about the different

types of long-term memory storage.

Now, for healthy memories, there are lots of little tricks you can use to help remember

information.

Mnemonics, for one, help with memorization, and I’m sure you know a few that take the

form of acronyms--ROY G. BIV for the colors of the rainbow, for instance.

Mnemonics work in part by organizing items into familiar, manageable units, in a process

called chunking.

For example, it may be hard to recall a seven-digit number, but it’ll be easier to commit it

to memory in the rhythm of a phone number: 867-5309.

Or you could just, you know, write a song about it.

Strategies like mnemonics and chunking can help you with explicit processing, but how

well you retain your data can depend on how deep you dig through the different levels

of processing.

Shallow processing, for instance, lets you encode information on really basic auditory

or visual levels, based on the sound, structure or appearance of a word.

So if you’re trying to commit the name Leonidas to your explicit memory, using shallow processing

you might encode the word by recalling the cool font you saw it in.

But to really retain that information, you’d want to activate your deep processing, which

encodes semantically, based on actual meaning associated with the word.

In this case, you might remember the story of the mega-tough yet very scantily clad warrior

of ancient Greece.

Or you might remember that “leon” means “lion” in Greek, that lions are tough

fighters, and that Leonidas was a tough Spartan warrior-king.

And then to really, really make it stick, you want to connect it to something meaningful

or related to your own personal, emotional experience.

Like maybe Gerard Butler’s bronzed eight-pack torso and unconquerable blood-lust helped

lock down the words Spartan and Leonidas in your forever memory.

I mean, maybe.

If … if that helps you.

In the end, how much information you encode and remember depends on both the time you

took to learn it and how you made it personally relevant to YOU.

Memory is extremely powerful.

It’s constantly shaping and reshaping your brain, your life, and your identity.

Clive Wearing is still himself on the outside, but in his inability to recall who he was,

or process what has happened, he has lost some critically important part of himself.

Our memories may haunt us or sustain us, but either way, they define us.

Without them, we are left to wander alone in the dark.

If you were committing this lesson to memory, you learned about how we encode and store

memory, the difference between implicit automatic and effortful explicit processing, how shallow

and deep processing work, and a few types of long-term storage.

Thanks for watching, especially to our Subbable subscribers, who make this whole channel possible.

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This episode was written by Kathleen Yale, edited by Blake de Pastino, and our consultant

is Dr. Ranjit Bhagwat.

Our director and editor is Nicholas Jenkins, the script supervisor is Michael Aranda, who’s

also our sound designer, and the graphics team is Thought Café.